Sport Access Foundation acknowledges National Sorry Day

In the last year, I have been grateful for the learnings I’ve had of our First Nations people, and this has through reaching out and simply talking to those in my community, and also through my involvement as an Ambassador for the AIS’s Share a Yarn program.

Further to that, my education and that of Sport Access Foundation continues through one of our Board Members, Grantley Creighton, a Gomeroi man (Moree, NSW) and working for Justice Health & Forensic Mental Health Network. Grantley has helped us understand the cultural differences and how we can be more considerate, and relevant in our commitment to ensure sport is accessible for young indigenous Australians, many who also have underlying physical and health challenges.

Today, as many know, it is National Sorry Day. This day was first held in 1998 to commemorate the anniversary of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s report ‘Bringing them Home’ which was the National inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children. That report was an uncomfortable truth for many, as it was the realisation of the real extent our First Nations people had suffered. With generations separated from their Mums, Dads, Grandparents, Siblings and whole families. I cannot imagine the pain and grief to lose your Mum as a young child, never to see her again. This pain would carry on, and so it has carried on for the next generations. That is why we need to acknowledge that the past policies still impact today.

On behalf of Sport Access Foundation and all our community, we wish to acknowledge that many of our First Nations have suffered, and have not had the same opportunities to education, employment and sport as most Australians. We can all make a difference in the healing and undoing the wrongs of the past.

Sport Access Foundation encourage all Australians to reach out to First Nations people in their communities, and share and reflect together.

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